NUTHATCH. 
SITTA EUROPE A. 
According to ray own observations the range of the Nuthatch is by no means extended in the British Islands. 
I have never been able to identify a single specimen, with certainty, further north than Yorkshire. In two 
different localities in the southern part of that county (large parks containing scattered timber as well as dense 
woods) I have met with a few pairs. Though stragglers have from time to time come under my notice 
in the east of Norfolk, the nature of that side of the county is hardly suited to their requirements, and the 
species appears in greater numbers to the west of Norwich. In the neighbourhood of llarrow-on-the-IIill, in 
Middlesex, I have seen the nest on two or three occasions ; and the birds themselves are tolerably common 
during the autumn and winter. It is, however, in the woods of Kent and Sussex that I have had the best 
opportunities for studying the habits of the Nuthatch. I am not acquainted with the east of Kent ; but the 
bird is common in the well-timbered portion of the county near the Sussex border, and may be found in almost 
every wood in the eastern division of the latter county ; it is also abundant (on the north side of the Downs) in 
the neighbourhood of Brighton. 
To the best of my knowledge, this species is a resident, and seldom strays far from the district it inhabits. 
I have met with no evidence of its crossing the North Sea; neither have I observed it on the English Channel 
or in the immediate vicinity of the coast. 
The Nuthatch is usually noticed solitary or in pairs. On two or three occasions, when cover-shooting late 
in the season, I have remarked as many as half a dozen, or even more, showing themselves in rapid succession, 
if disturbed by the advance of the beaters. They are, however, by no means shy, and usually afford abundant 
opportunities to any one desirous of watching their movements. Their actions while searching the trunks 
of trees for food are most interesting, if carefully observed through powerful glasses. Unlike the Wood- 
pecker tribe, this species does not make use of its tail as a support while climbing ; it will also descend 
the stem or limb of a tree head downwards as readily as it ascends. Though feeding occasionally on nuts, 
from which habit I conclude its name is derived, the bird mainly supports itself on insects and larvae, which it 
procures from the cracks and crannies in the rough bark of the trees it frequents. I have now and then seen 
one rise from the ground (usually an open space in a cover) ; but I never had an opportunity of watching 
their actions while in that position. 
For breeding-purposes this species resorts most commonly to holes in trees, the entrance to its nursery, 
if not according to its taste, being plastered up with mud. In some instances this substance is made use of in 
large quantities. 
